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A ballot measure to establish term limits for El Camino Healthcare District’s board members appears headed for victory, with early results showing a large majority of voters backing Measure S.
Support for Measure S was leading with 91.84% (26,046 votes), according to initial returns posted by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters at 9:13 p.m. Tuesday.
“It was a slam dunk,” El Camino Healthcare District Board member Julia Miller told the Voice. “But it took us awhile to get to this point.”
El Camino Healthcare District is a public agency that oversees El Camino Hospital. The district’s board members manage the tax-funded district and serve on the nonprofit hospital’s board of directors.
Measure S would limit board directors to serving no more than four full four-year terms, or 16 years in total. It is a lifetime limit, meaning that board members could not later return after reaching the cap. Currently, the district does not limit the number of terms a director may serve.
The limit only applies to future terms beginning after Dec. 1, 2026. Partial terms, including appointments to fill a vacancy, do not apply towards the term limit.
Ahead of the Nov. 3 election, Miller wrote a formal statement in favor of Measure S, on behalf of the board.
“Term limits work,” she wrote. “They create opportunities for qualified candidates, including those who have been underrepresented, to run for seats that would otherwise remain occupied indefinitely.”
There was no formal opposition to Measure S nor any money raised in favor or against it, according to Santa Clara County’s campaign finance website.
The El Camino Healthcare District encompasses most of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, as well as a large part of Sunnyvale and small portions of Cupertino, Santa Clara and Palo Alto.
Visit the Voice’s website for initial election results of other local races and measures, which will be updated regularly over the next several days.
